Shrewsbury struggles with transportation costs for homeless students

Thursday

Dec 5, 2013 at 6:00 AM

By Marc C. Sanguinetti CORRESPONDENT

SHREWSBURY — School officials raised concerns at a School Committee meeting Wednesday night about a sudden drop in the reimbursement rate the school district receives for transporting homeless children.

Superintendent Joseph M. Sawyer told state Rep. Matthew A. Beaton, R-Shrewsbury, that under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act, the school district used to receive 100 percent reimbursement for taking homeless children to school free of charge. He said the cost of transporting students is split between the district where they're currently located and the most recent school district they attended before they became homeless.

Mr. Sawyer said this year he only expects the school district to receive a reimbursement rate of 55 percent. He acknowledged the district's responsibility to care for homeless children, but said the drop in the reimbursement rate amounts to making the responsibility an "unfunded mandate."

"We were given no warning and no opportunity to plan," Mr. Sawyer said.

He told Mr. Beaton that roughly 40 families have been placed in an emergency homeless shelter at the Days Inn on Route 9. He said he is planning for as many as 100 homeless students to enter the school district. He added that the district is already grappling with extremely high class sizes and a school budget with a razor-thin margin for additional expenses.

Mr. Beaton acknowledged the issue, but asked people to be mindful of families in need, especially at the holidays. "While we have these (legislative) issues, we're very fortunate to be where we are," Mr. Beaton said. "These families do need a hand."